In recent years the theft of automobiles and the burglarizing of behicles to steal valuab;le electronic equipment therein has reached epidemic proportions in certain areas. Certain insurers are reluctant to insure such vehicles for equipment because of the high loss rate. Various types of alarms have been devised to protect such vehicles. Some are set off by movement of the vehicle, others by starting of the ignition and others by opening of a door. Many such systems have a time delay after the action has taken place for the knowledgable owner or driver to disable the alarm system before it sounds. Others sound upon entry and the owner must make appropriate action to disable the alarm after a short period of operation. A common sight is an expensive vehicle parked and a person entering a vehicle with an alarm sounding.
Observers assume that the entry was authorized if the alarm stops after a few seconds. Such may or may not be the case. In any event, the sounding of an alarm is not necessarily a result which can protect the vehicle or its contents. Professional car thieves have ways of bypassing alarms or rendering them ineffective.
It has been said that a window sticker warning the would be intruder of the presence of an alarm is a greater deterrent than the alarm itself since it serves to deter persons before they damage the vehicle. Although professional thieves may not be discouraged by window stickers, many vandals and amateur thieves, who often do the most damage to a vehicle, are believed to look for easier pickings and leave the vehicle alone. Warning stickers, themselves, are passive and as a result, are of limited effectiveness.